1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a truck cab safety barrier, specifically, one that collapses so as to allow for the adaptation and use of such options as a truck cap, bed cover, and/or split or retractable rear windows.
2. Prior Art
The Department of Transportation periodically addresses new safety concerns and, consequently, establishes (or revises) mandates for automobile manufactures with the new requirements, such as various protection devises to mitigate the forces from outside intrusion. Head restraints and side impact airbags are examples of this. This trend should ultimately lend more credence to more basic and simple safety devises, like “Headache Racks,” as they apply to pick-up trucks.
Present day pickup trucks offer options such as rear split or fully-retractable windows, which provide more diversity and are commonly preferred. Truck caps and other optional covers are further examples of functional pickup truck options.
Existing safety barriers, commonly referred to as “headache racks,” mount on the tops of truck bed sidewalls, and remain fixed, disallowing the use of truck caps, truck bed covers or access through the rear cab window itself. A good example of such a conventional ‘Headache Rack’ is in U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,585 to Leslie Cole (2005).
While Cole's Universal Cab Guard provides the fundamentals for maintaining truck cab safety, it is omni-present, stationary, heavy and clunky with lots of hardware to disassemble when not needed. These ubiquitous existing ‘headache racks’ permanently encumber the driver's visual acuity through the rear window. As a stationary device, the prior art conflicts with access through the rear window and, without its removal, prohibits installation of a truck bed cap or cover. These existing fixed, heavy barriers require strength and coordination to remove. Once removed, these existing devices are clunky and inflexible for storage options.